Red Hood and the Outlaws #16Review

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It's Night of the Living Joker Hobos.

By Jesse Schedeen

Too often I've complained about the fact that Red Hood and the Outlaws seems like a Red Hood book first and a team book a distant second. To his credit, Scott Lobdell is addressing that perception by delivering a story arc where Jason Todd is out of commission and his friends are on the hunt. Unfortunately, nothing about the execution of this arc sets it apart. Between the unwelcome Teen Titans crossover, the haphazard visuals, and the annoying narration and dialogue, this is one Death of the Family tie-in you're better off skipping.

Of the Outlaws trio, Roy Harper has tended to fare the worst in the characterization department. Placing him in the lead role in this issue only exacerbates the problem rather than fixes it. Roy comes across as obnoxious as he's ever been. His narration is generally pointless, unnecessary, and burdened with exposition. Not to mention that there's something vaguely depressing about reading a version of Roy Harper with no familiarity with the Teen Titans. Equally obnoxious is Bart Allen, who does little in this issue but make wisecracks and flirt in the heat of danger. The dialogue in general is much more stilted than it usually is in this series. As a first meeting between these two teams, this crossover leaves a lot to be desired.

In general, the focus of this issue is all over the map. Lobdell randomly shifts into a flashback of Roy's recovering addict years before jumping right back into the action. Later, and on two separate occasions, he foreshadows a villain that will be plaguing the characters down the road but has absolutely no bearing on this particular story. And in both cases, the issue is further bogged down by awkward narrative captions.

Timothy Green's artwork continues to suffer. Green's figures are stiff and expressionless, with some poses and shots being recycled. Too often, panels feature no real background details to speak of, but merely great globs of color and shadow that suggest the book is taking place on the astral plane or some netherworld dimension.

Most of the Bat-books have done a good job of accommodating Death of the Family and using the event as a springboard for drama. Lobdell has instead opted for a bizarre slapstick approach that doesn't mesh one iota with the tone of the event. I'll be happy to see this series move beyond the tie-ins and crossovers and pursue its own ends again.